No. 3 Ohio State holds off Michigan in final seconds

Dec. 1, 2013

Written by

George Schroeder

USA Today

ANN ARBOR, MICH. — When the play unfolded just like his coach said it would, Tyvis Powell executed just liked he’d hoped he could. He stepped in front of the receiver to grab the two-point try that would have given Michigan a massive upset, then he joined the Ohio State celebration.

But it wasn’t until almost an hour later, when Powell stepped into the shower in the visitors’ locker room somewhere underneath the grand old Michigan Stadium, the magnitude of what he’d done hit home. Because it was then he realized what almost happened.

“It just clicked,” the redshirt freshman nickelback said. “That was our season on the line. We had 12-0, the gold pants, a chance for a national championship. It just hit me like: ‘Wow. I really just kind of saved the season.’”

That became more apparent a couple of hours later as the Buckeye buses rolled south. They were passing through Delaware when the stakes got higher. Seconds after Chris Davis’ 100-plus yard field-goal return gave Auburn an improbable upset of No. 1 Alabama, Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby immediately tweeted: “Hellll yeaaaaa!!!!!” which probably summed up the Buckeyes’ reaction to what must have felt like the perfect ending to an imperfectly perfect day.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was correct on several levels when he called the Buckeyes’ 42-41 victory Saturday “an instant classic.” The phrase is so overused, it’s been burned out. But if this grand rivalry didn’t much resemble the days of Woody and Bo — too many touchdowns, not enough defense, and so on — it might never have been more entertaining.

Trick plays. Power football. Punches, counterpunches and ejections. On the field, too: punches, counterpunches and finally, courtesy of Powell, rejection.

When it was done, the Buckeyes celebrated. But the collective emotion was not so much elation as relief.

“It was just such a crazy ending,” junior tight end Jeff Heuerman said. “Everyone’s head is still spinning.”

The Buckeyes’ narrow escape against a faltering rival won’t do anything much to help their case in the BCS beauty pageant, or to change perception their run has been over a mediocre Big Ten. Suddenly with Alabama’s loss, all of that matters more.

The argument began immediately after Auburn’s win against Alabama: Should a one-loss SEC team like Auburn pass the unbeaten Buckeyes?

The Wolverines had scored five offensive touchdowns in their past four games. In a loss last week at Iowa, they managed 158 yards. They had 603 yards against Ohio State. Gardner threw for 451 and four touchdowns.

Michigan is not Florida State. Devin Gardner is not Jameis Winston.

“We’re pretty disappointed,” junior linebacker Ryan Shazier said. “We’re a lot better than that. We had a bad game today. We had too much emotion in front of us. We’ve just got to do better.”

Ohio State was hardly perfect, but it is hard to be that way. Take that away, and understand the importance of what the Buckeyes achieved.

“Twelve times two, that’s 24 straight wins,” said Heuerman, who paused a minute to make sure he got the multiplication correct. “Twenty-four straight wins, that’s just something.”

So is beating Michigan. Never mind Ohio State has won 10 of the past 12 — gold-pants charms for every Buckeye, all the time! — or these Wolverines finished 7-5 and were 16-point underdogs at home. Or that Michigan Stadium had a big swath of empty seats at kickoff, and too much scarlet standing out from the maize and blue in the stands.

“What means more, our 24th win in a row or our second straight win against our rival?” said Meyer, carefully avoiding the name “Michigan.” “No question, it’s the second win against our rival.”

Heuerman added: “We knew it was gonna be a game. We knew we had to fight. It’s a war every time we play that team.”

There was, of course, a literal fight, which led to ejections of Ohio State kick returner Dontre Wilson, starting right guard Marcus Hall and Michigan linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone. As he left the field for the locker room, Hall raised both hands high and flipped off the Michigan fans.

“Disappointing,” Meyer said.

The game wasn’t. Michigan played as well as it has all season (certainly since a September win against Notre Dame), using a wide-open, care-free offensive approach to grab the early lead. Gardner’s passing exposed Ohio State’s defense, which ranks 52nd nationally in pass efficiency.

“They were like a different team,” Shazier said. “We knew that would happen. That’s why this is a rivalry.”

The Buckeyes’ offense, however, remains a blunt but powerful weapon. Senior running back Carlos Hyde bludgeoned the Wolverines for 226 yards on 27 carries. Junior quarterback Braxton Miller added 153 and three touchdowns, and threw for two more.

But Hyde’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:20 left only set up the finish. Michigan bolted 84 yards in 11 plays. With 32 seconds left, Gardner found Devin Funchess in the end zone, then coach Brady Hoke went for two. It was the correct call, given the circumstances.

“We played the game to win,” Hoke said.

“I would have done the same thing,” Meyer said. “You go win the game right there.”

Ohio State called timeout. The Buckeyes later said they were told by coaches to expect one of two plays. Cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs went further, grabbing Powell and telling him: “They’re running the ‘angle’ route.”

Given what had happened earlier, all those trick plays and throwbacks and stuff Michigan had not shown all season, Powell admitted: “The thought did cross my mind,” the Wolverines might go against the grain.

But Coombs was right. Powell was right there, ready to save the season , even if it won’t hit home until much later.

“If I have kids,” Powell said, “I’ll be going: ‘Look!’ and turning it on to show ’em.”